group show // "Origins"

Opening on March 5, HEIST are proud to present their latest exhibition, Origins. The fine art photography exhibition will be a celebration of places and people who have remained largely unchanged for centuries, capturing the fascinating traditions and raw beauty FROM THE FURTHEST EDGES OF THE WORLD.

The exhibition will explore the effects of globalization through the prism of indigenous cultures. Origins aims to question whether the forces of globalization have eroded our sense of identity and isolated us from nature and traditions that once made us beautifully unique.

HEIST founder, Mashael Al-Rushaid, said of the exhibition; “We have found ourselves living on a planet whose citizens are slowly forming uniform pan-global identities, in which people are increasingly beginning to sound alike, act alike and believe in the same things. Despite the great contributions that the march towards modernity has made towards our civilizations, it has started to strip us of what makes us fundamentally unique, what makes us human.”

Playing center stage a life-size baby elephant made of Iron Wood And Cow Skin Over Galvanized Armature. The very wood produced from the fermentation caused from the stampede of elephants. A metaphysical embodiment of the productS of development.

Origins will also feature sculptures from Patrick Colhoun’s TRIPTYCH of COHORTS, which will be displayed alongside conceptual pieces by Gunjun Gupta and Biannale favorite; Egyptian sculptor Khaled Zaki. In the Heist tradition of transforming the space to create an immersive aesthetic environment for the artwork, Heist will be transformING a room into A REinterpretation of a traditional NdebelE home. The Ndebele tribe originally in the early 18th century lived in grass huts. They began using mud-walled houses in the mid-18th century wITH hand painted expressive symbols ON THEIR WALLS TO COMMUNICATE between sub-groups of the Ndebele people. IN THE NDEBELE BELIF SYSTEM, THE PAINTINGS HOLD SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE, AND IS BELIEVED TO BE DEMANDED BY THE ANCESTORS TO CREATE CULTURAL CONTINUITY. These wall paintings done by the women was their secret code to their people, disguised to anyone but the Ndebele. A TRADITION PASSED ON BY MOTHERS FOR GENERATIONS.

HEIST IS A FORWARD THINKING CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIVE THAT ENCOURAGES ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN COLLECTORS AND ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, PROVIDING ACCESSIBILITY AND INFORMATIVE UNDERSTANDING INTO THE MEDIUM OF FINE-ART PHOTOGRAPHY.